I used to hate it when I’d seeVampire Survivorsclones.

Look at this outrageously basic pretender getting all of the attention - it was anarchic and exciting.

That they would lick even crumbs from the plate irks me still; they offered nothing but greed.

Karate Survivor key art. It shows a six characters arranged in a V shape, facing the camera, with skyscrapers and two fists in the background, somewhat inexplicably. It’s exactly the kind of image you’d see on a ’90s Hong Kong action movie poster: young hero, muscular thugs, baseball bats, guns. There’s gonna be some punching going down.

Here’s a game brazen enough to ape even Vampire Survivors' name - has it no shame?

But I’ll tell you what: it’s great.

So how do you build on the Vampire Survivors idea?

Cover image for YouTube video

Simple: you introduce Jackie Chan.

Think Police Story or Rumble in the Bronx.

Think Chan tumbling around kitchens while grabbing pots and pans and whacking people around the head with them.

Arcade roguelite game Karate Survivors. We see, from a distance, a construction site filled with 80s and 90s-themed hoodlums, who are all chasing one lonely kung-fu master guy. Their mistake.

Think Chan clambering up ladders and then using the same ladders to spin around and wallop people with.

Think overwhelming odds and yet, somehow, Chan succeeds.

Nearly everything you see, you’re able to do something with.

Arcade roguelite game Karate Survivors. We see a yellow card close-up, showing a martial arts move on it and the stats associated with it. This one’s a double punch, and it hurts.

Hey, I did ninjutsu for five lessons so I think I know what I’m talking about.

But do you go for the red attacks or the blue ones?

Or hold out hopes for the lucrative yellow ones instead, which are incredibly powerful but also incredibly rare?

Arcade roguelite game Karate Survivors. We see, from some distance, a screen filled with green-haired thug-punks, who are intent on kicking the stuffing out of our kung-fu action hero. They’re not winning.

This is Karate Survivor’s strategy and it’s satisfying to chew on.

I like it, and I also just like how it looks.

It’s an impressive package.

Just like Jackie Chan.